Forecast

The Week Ahead for Aquarius

Monday, 22 April – Sunday, 28 April

With Uranus as your ruler, you should be well-adapted to sudden bends and unexpected detours on the road of life, and you yourself are entirely capable of deciding on a whole new route when the mood takes you. And these are perfect conditions for a reroute, a game-change. For many Aquarians the focus is on home and family, whether a loved one is making waves or there are domestic changes afoot. It is good to make changes at this point, and the more radical the better, and if you have little choice in the matter, endeavour to see events as a step in the right direction.

Time for a change.

The Month Ahead for Aquarius

April 2019

Changing your surroundings not only refreshes your spirit but allows you to see one or more situations in a new light. And getting away from it all is the theme of the month. You may take a holiday break or visit friends and family, but whatever the entertainment, at some point you will experience an epiphany. And that awakening could make a huge difference to your future plans. While it is always good to listen to advice, what you do with it is up to you. Remember it is your life. Around the 22nd, have the courage to take a radical step and if fate appears to have taken a hand, see it is a springboard to something much, much better.

2019 Overview

There is a misconception that astrologers can see the future as if we were watching scenes playing out on a cinema screen. But it’s not like that. We open our ephemerides (planetary timetable) and take endless notes on when the alignments are at their strongest and what they might mean for this person, that country or this event. Often it can seem as if fate has the upper hand, but although we cannot prevent every event that happens to us we can choose what we do in the wake of it. We have free will.

Not everything is set in stone. Actions have consequences. We make choices.

So, 2019. The last year of the Teenies and the bridge to the Twenties – a decade that will change the world map, whether in terms of the land itself or in geo-political terms. And with a degree of harmony between Saturn, Uranus, Pluto and Neptune in 2019, this has the potential to be a great year. A year in which solutions can be found, or at least worked toward, in some of the most pressing global problems, including those inspired by climate change.

Uranus entered Taurus in mid-May 2018, but then moved back into Aries and will remain there until March of 2019. Uranus is the revolutionary of the planets, the innovator and the iconoclast, so its transit of this Venus-ruled earth sign for the next seven years is going to produce some exciting developments in architecture, technology, engineering, food, the beauty business, farming and agriculture. But we can also expect financial collapses and the destruction of places and buildings of historical significance.

Already in 2018 we witnessed the loss of two iconic museums in Glasgow and Brazil due to fires; and unprecedented hurricanes and typhoons devastated parts of the world from Indonesia to Hawaii. Volcanic eruptions, extreme heat and bush and forest fires look to be on the increase in 2019, a reflection of Jupiter’s transit of the fire sign, Sagittarius.

Jupiter’s passage through Sagittarius, however, will have many positive effects, most notably on the aviation industry, global travel, publishing, education and communication systems. In a Jupiter-in-Sagittarius year, there’s an emphasis on fun and sport. We spend more money, enjoy taking holidays and getting out of our comfort zones. Then again, the last time Jupiter transited Sagittarius was in 2007, and we can all remember what happened when the sub-prime mortgage market collapsed: it was the precipitator to the global recession. And 2020 is looking distinctly troublesome.

Jupiter’s move through Sagittarius chimes with a Three year in numerology and the year of the Earth Pig in Chinese astrology. The number Three is an harmonious number: it promotes optimism and stimulates communications. We stretch our boundaries in a Three year and reach out to people in different countries and embrace different cultures. The year of the Earth Pig is similarly positive. Good luck and good times are to be expected. Then again, like a Jupiter transit, you can have too much of a good thing, and excess can lead to loss of control and ultimately collapse.

Trade is going to be an important issue for 2019. Technically, Jupiter should preside over some monster trade deals, however, this same influence can inspire trade wars, and we can already see this potential developing between the US and China. And regardless how Great Britain and Europe end their relationship, trade will suffer in the wake of it.

Since August 2016 a series of eclipses has occurred in Leo or Aquarius, which is why, if you belong to these two signs you have had such an up and down time of it. This eclipse series has a distinctly royal aura to it, especially regarding the British Crown, being in play during the toppling of the English monarchy in 1669. This time round we have seen the Duke of Edinburgh’s retirement from public life, the birth of a royal prince and the wedding of Harry and Meghan. But with one eclipse yet to come (21 January) there could be much, much more to the royal story before the end of 2019.

In a nutshell, 2019 is a year to make the most of everything we have and everything that comes to us. It is also a year that we should liken to autumn: a beautiful season but one that precedes winter; and in keeping with nature, we should store our resources in preparation for a lean and mean period. It’s not exactly make-hay-while-the-sun-shines; more treasuring those things that are precious to us, including planet Earth, and ensuring they will still be there decades hence. It’s something Saturn in Capricorn would applaud us for.

The Year Ahead for Aquarius

General

Your year takes off on 21st January with a lunar eclipse. This eclipse brings to an end a two-and-a-half-year period in which you have been in transition; your course sometimes dictated by yourself but mostly by circumstances. Thus, you begin 2019 with a different mind-set. You are just as determined and focussed but more aware that plans can change and therefore more adaptable. In two years’ time you will be reaping the rewards of the actions you take now, so do not look for quick results and instant answers. Be remorseless in your efforts to root out weaknesses because a failure to do so will compromise your success in 2021. And this advice applies to your health and well-being every bit as much as your personal and professional endeavours. Ruler, Uranus returns to the base of the life-direction axis in March inspiring changes thereafter across the board, but particularly on the career and domestic front.

Love and relationships

Friendship and companionship hold a special place in the Aquarian heart. But deep, emotional exchange and passionate scenes tend to scare the pants off you. (No pun intended!) What you need to do is find that same trust with which you sustain friendships in a romantic relationship. The focus this year is on team-spirit: shared activities, mutual goals, joint projects and simply being there for each other. And this is even more conducive to happy relationships should you have step-children. However, the road may well get a little bumpy for the January-born Aquarians. Then again it is the January group that are most likely to experience love-at-first-sight and marry quickly. March and August are key periods for your love life and events set in motion in January are likely to have their denouement in mid-August. For better or worse!

Work, life goals and finance

Teamwork does the job in 2019. Jupiter’s transit of the zone of creativity and collaborations could inspire new work projects that give you more creative freedom. And if ever there was a time let your inner-entrepreneur out it is this year. Joining forces with like-minded people, attending workshops/courses and developing your ideas could all lead to successful outcomes. Share the dream and bring it into reality. And keep that two-year time line in mind. Taking a sabbatical could also help grease the wheels of creativity. Uranus could make for some unexpected endings and beginnings – this planet is especially active in mid-January, late April and the end of July and October. Neptune continues to influence finances, so there is an annoying trend for unexpected gains balanced by equally unanticipated losses. However, you can only win big if you dream big.

CELESTIAL TIP

Act from the heart, and when in a quandary, ask yourself what feels right. You won’t go wrong.

To a certain extent you are continuing to get used to being in a new skin. So, be patient with yourself. Consider you are a student in your final year; you have a lot of knowledge but are not yet sure how to use it. Friends and colleagues play an important role in your happiness and success this year: you may go into business with a friend or decide to share your life with a friend.

High points: 2 February; 5 April; 10 August; 1 September; 28 December

Low points: 21 January; 22 April; 29 July; 7 and 27 October